The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

sheraton

If you’ve booked a room directly through a hotel chain’s website, you’ve more than likely seen lower-cost options for visitors who agree to prepay for at least some of their stay. Before you choose that cheaper room, make sure you know what you’re agreeing to so that you don’t end up on the hook for hundreds of dollars later if you have to make a change. [More]

Five months after Starwood Hotels and Resorts – which operates brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W – announced it would sell itself for $12 billion to Marriott to make the world’s largest hotelier, the company revealed that it had received an unsolicited takeover bid of roughly $14 billion from a group of suitors. [More]

Just days after Starwood Hotels and Resorts made headlines for combining with Marriott to make the world’s largest hotelier, the company is back in the news for a decidedly less exciting issue: it’s the latest victim of a hack attack. [More]

Because nothing gold can stay, AMC’s popular Mad Men has reached the final episode of its final, seventh season. Over the course of the show, we’ve seen pitches for a multitude of companies, brands, sports, groups and even cities. While some of those brands were created for the show, the large majority were very real — and some continue to exist today. In the spirit of nostalgia, we thought now might be the right time to check in on those products and companies pitched by Sterling Cooper (and its various rebirths), to see which have been lost to the mists of time, and which still remain. [More]

The controversial immigration law passed by Arizona’s government back in April has lead to over 20 organizations (including cities, towns, school districts, churches and universities) joining a travel boycott of the state. But is it hurting business? Too soon to tell, says USAToday. [More]

Man manages to stay at what he describes as the most ghetto Sheraton in the world. How bad was it? Well, it’s called the “Sheraton-Miami-Mart.” Yes, “Mart,” and it has the same high level of quality, cleanliness, and accommodations that you would expect from any place with “Mart” as a suffix. [Shankman]

“My sister is getting married in Reading, PA on October the 27th and we booked approximately 30 hotel rooms at the Sheraton Hotel in Wyomissing, PA for out-of-town guests. The groom is from Washington state, so there are a significant number of people traveling across the country. The block of rooms was reserved well over a year in advance and all of the individual reservations were made with months to spare. There is a large figure skating competition in the area (Skate America) that same weekend, and hotel rooms are nearly impossible to come by at this point within a 45 minute drive. Late last week my mom called the Sheraton to check in on the reservations (as she had done multiple times prior given the aforementioned dearth of hotel rooms in the area for that weekend to ensure that nothing like this would occur) and was told they had canceled all of the hotel rooms in the block including the bridal suite.”